Garment-stay



(No Model.)

0. W BELL.

GARMENT STAY.

No, 444,809 Patented Jan. 20, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES XV. BELL, OF TECUMSEH, MICHIGAN.

GARMENT-STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 444 809, dated January20, 1891.

Application filed August 15, 1890. Serial No. 362,109. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GHARLEs'W. BELL, of Tecumseh, in the county ofLenawee and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and usefulImprovements in GarmentStays; andI do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the intion, which will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to thenumerals of reference marked thereon, which form part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to garment-stays.

The object is to produce a garment-stay which shall be of suchconstruction that corrosion of the stiffening-blade will be preventedeither from the action of water or from the moisture emanating from thebody of the wearer. Afurther object is to produce a garmentstay having are-enforced stifieningblade. A further object is to produce agarment-stay having a stiffening-blade arranged in such a manner withinthe fabric covering that all danger of the said blade cutting or workingits way through the said cover will be overcome. A further object is toproduce a cheap, durable, and desirable stay.

The invention will first be described in connection with theaccompanying drawings and then pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification and inwhich like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts, I haveillustrated one form of garmentstay with modification embodying theessential features of my invention, although the same may be carriedinto effect in other ways without in the least departing from the spiritthereof, and in the drawings Figure l is a perspective view of a portionof a sheet of garment-stays,one end of which is separated to show thefabric covering, adhesive material, stiffening-blades, and re-enforcingstrip. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the stiffening-bladesremoved from the fabric covering. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a completedstay, and Fig. at is a transverse sectional view showing a differentform of strengthening-strip over that shown in the other figures.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the stiffening-blade, which isconstructed of the usual material, around which is arranged a resilientre-enforcing or inclosing strip 2, which is of sufficient length toextend entirely around the said blade, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, andmay be made of a suitable vegetable growth, preferably in this instanceof cane or reed, but if desired whalebone may be employed. Upon eachside of the strip is arranged a sheet of adhesive or binding material 3,which may be of gutta-percha, rubber, or other analogous material, andupon each outer side of the said adhesive material is arranged a fabriccovering 4.

In the figures just described the re-enforcing strip is shownrectangular in cross-sec tion, but if desired it may be madeplanoconvex, as shown in Fig. i at 5. The latter construction will befound highly advantageous, inasmuch as a rounded surface is presented,whereby all sharp corners are done away with, thus preventing cutting orrapid wearing away of the fabric covering.

From the foregoing description the advantages of my improved stay willbe obvious. It will be seen that by arranging the re-enforcing striparound the stiffening-blade that not only is the latter strengthened,but corrosion from the action of water or perspiration will be overcome,inasmuch as it is entirely protected from the same, not only by thereenforcing strip but also by the adhesive material, which, if rubber,will'effectually exclude a-nydampness. Moreover, as the reenforcingstrip is interposed between the fabric covering and stiffening-blade itfollows that all danger of the said covering becoming discolored fromrust should any accumulate upon the blade will be overcome. Anotheradvantage of this construction is that when finished the stay will bethe same thickness throughout its entire length as contradistinguishedfrom the ordinary stay, in which end tips are employed to prevent thestiffeningblade working through the fabric covering, which tips formbulges at each end of the stay and cause the rapid wearing away of thefabric covering at these points. In this instance I have described asheet of elastic materialsuch as rubber or gutta-percha-as beingemployed to bind the parts together; but it is obvious that I may, ifdesired, employ any other substance suitable to the purpose, as of reedcovering the two faces and ends of for instance, a water-proof glue.said blade, an adhesive material binding the Having thus fully describedmy invention, strip to the blade,and a textile covering held 15' what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by in place by said adhesivematerial, all as de- Letters Patent, isscribed, and for the purposesstated.

1. In a garment-stay, astiffening-blade hav- 3 In testimony that I claimthe foregoing as ing its two faces and ends covered by a strip myownlafiix my signaturein presence of two of reed, the ends of which meeton one face witnesses.

of the stay and in the same plane, for the pur- CHARLES \V. BELL. posesstated. lVitnesses:

2. The herein-described garment-stay, con- LOUIS SCHNEIDER,

sisting of a stiffening-blade, a re-enforce strip WALTER O. BURRIDGE.

